Elle Fanning reveals she sought out role in Teen Spirit so she could sing: 'I always had this dream of being a pop star'

Elle Fanning plays a girl who works on a farm but decides to pursue her passion to sing in the new film Teen Spirit from director Max Minghella, who she's been romantically linked to.

And in the new issue of Billboard the 20-year-old actress - who is best known for Maleficent with Angelina Jolie - talked about lobbying for the role so she could show off her singing skills.

'I always had this dream of being a pop star,' says the younger sister of Dakota Fanning. 'That feeling, like I can just let loose and perform, was so attractive.'

New role: Elle Fanning plays a girl who works on a farm who pursues her passion to sing in the new film Teen Spirit from director Max Minghella. And in the new issue of Billboard the actress talked about lobbying for the role so she could show off her singing skills

Meanwhile, Fanning had been looking for a part that would showcase her voice. 'Max never thought of me,' she admits.

Her team reached out to Minghella and after the two met she won the role, causing her to rehearse for four months. Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Björk all inspired her.

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'Her greenness is what's intriguing about her,' said Fanning. 'I wanted to sing really well as Elle, but as Violet, I was not professional.'

She plays English teen Violet Valenski who hopes for a better life.

Pop doll: 'I always had this dream of being a pop star,' says the younger sister of Dakota Fanning. 'That feeling, like I can just let loose and perform, was so attractive'

The audience sees her go from her farm to singing songs in a pub to becoming a star on a competition show on TV that resembles American Idol.

Fanning, who has sung in public before, was required to belt out many tunes like Robyn's Dancing On My Own, Ellie Goulding's Lights, Annie Lennox's 1992 Little Bird as well as hits from Ariana Grande and Katy Perry.

Her last big ballad for the TV show was Don't Kill My Vibe by the Norwegian singer-songwriter Sigrid.

'It's not a pretty ballad; it's a very aggressive and almost angry anthem,' said Max. 'And I thought that would actually resonate the most in this climate.'

Dream come true: Meanwhile, Fanning had been looking for a part that would showcase her voice. 'Max never thought of me,' she admits. Her team reached out to Minghella and after the two met she won the role, causing her to rehearse for four months. Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Björk all inspired her

'I was very nervous,' said Elle. 'I knew I had to kill it.'

It took 12 hours to film the finale and she sang it 30 times.

In the scene she cuts loose. 'That's how I dance in my room,' said Fanning. 'The best performers get lost in themselves. You feel like there's no barrier between you and them. They know people are watching, but they're just in it.

At one point, just a number: Here she is seen auditioning for the TV show

'There's a lot of me in Violet, which people wouldn't expect,' she added. 'When we were practicing, I would never do it full out until I needed to.'

Antonoff's song is an earworm. 'I wanted it to be the kind of song you hear once and download immediately,' said Minghella.

Antonoff came up with Wildflowers, an unreleased song he had written with Carly Rae Jepsen.

'He played it to me over his phone, but instantly I could sing the chorus,' recalls Minghella.

'The song is about breaking free from a bad relationship,' said Jepsen. 'I had looked to place it on my last album [Emotion], but it never quite fit. I love Elle singing this - she gave new meaning to it.'

'Like, Wildflowers is going to be a single that's coming out,' she said in disbelief. 'That's a rush. Doing Teen Spirit feels like it opened doors to this whole other land for me. I feel like if I wanted to do an album now, maybe I could.'

Elle and Max have been romantically linked for a year - they were seen kissing in August 2018 - but neither talks about it.

In September her brushed off a question about dating her: 'Oh, I don’t know anything about that.'

Teen Spirit will screen at South by Southwest on March 12.

Another big film coming out this year: Maleficent 2 with Angelina Jolie will come out in October, it was revealed this week